Problem: If the sales tax in your city is $11.5\%$, how much tax would you pay for an item that costs $\$147$ before tax? Round to the nearest cent.
Answer: In order to find the amount of sales tax you would pay, multiply the sales tax by the original price of the item. ${11.5\%} \times {\$147} =$ Percent means "out of one hundred," so $11.5\%$ is equivalent to $11.5 \div 100$ $11.5 \div 100 = 0.115$ Multiply the sales tax you just converted into a decimal by the original price to find the amount of sales tax that must be paid. Round to the nearest cent. $0.115$ $\times$ $$147$ = $$16.91$ You would pay $$16.91$ in sales tax.